Agreement Reached on Controversial Relay Property

An agreement has been reached that would allow development of a in Relay that pitted its reluctant owner’s property rights against the interests of the community.

First district councilman Tom Quirk says he will introduce a resolution to modify the county’s water and sewer map and allow hook-ups for three homes on the Woodland Drive property owned by Lorraine Bell, of St. Augustine, FL.

“We’ve worked out an agreement that allows her to go forward with the development process,” Quirk says.

A former Carroll County resident, Bell acquired the property near Woodland and Viaduct Avenue in 2010 through foreclosure. Bell held the first mortgage on the property, having invested about $300,000 to help a friend and employee – an amount she says represents the bulk of her retirement nest egg.

Because the real estate market has bottomed out since the property was purchased, Bell proposed developing multiple homes on the property in a panhandle configuration, in which several homes share one driveway.

While the property is zoned to hold as many as 20 homes, as a practical matter about six homes at most could be accommodated on the property, according to Carroll County surveyor Dick Hull, who assisted Bell with the project.

Relay residents objected to the proposed development, concerned that it would not fit within the historic nature of the community, tucked next to Patapsco State Park in southwest Baltimore County.

The property sits on an area known as “the ravine,” a wooded plot with a history of soil instability and ground slides.

Residents have been asking for Bell to conduct an updated development plan, which would involve hiring geologic experts and other consultants at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars – money she was reluctant to spend without the sewer hook-up needed to move forward with development.

“Without a sewer hook-up, it’s a worthless piece of property,” says Hull.

One possible solution is a restrictive covenant – a contractual provision written into a property transfer agreement – that limits the number of homes built on the Woodland Drive property.

However, if Bell sells the property and a subsequent owner builds more homes on the property, the county would not get involved in enforcing the restrictive covenant. Residents would be forced to hire lawyers and initiate a costly lawsuit.

Modifying the county’s water and sewer map is essentially a legislative matter, Quirk says. Within the next week or two, he will introduce a resolution that designates three sewer hook-ups for the Woodland Drive property. The measure is expected to be passed by the full council as a routine matter.

“This allows Bell to go forward with the development planning, and lets the community know the maximum build-out on that property,” Quirk says. “It’s a win-win for both sides, and balances Ms. Bell’s property rights with the concerns of the community.”

Residents have guardedly agreed to Quirk’s compromise.

‘This is the lesser of two evils,” says Kim Box, president of Relay Improvement Association. “The community is still very concerned.”

Members of the community intends to keep an eye on the Woodland Drive property through its development, which still must undergo a zoning process, historical review, and a mechanism for community input.

Bell says she is relieved to get past the sewer hook-up stalemate.

“At least this way I can move forward and recover some of my retirement,” she says. “It’s been a long, hard haul.”

Despite suspicions that has been waiting for the sewer hook-ups to “flip” the property, Bell says there are no prospective buyers waiting in the wings.

“It was never my intention to be a developer,” she says. “I’d be happy to sell it, but in this market I may be carrying it for a while. If I had developers knocking on my door offering money, that would be a different matter.”

Hull says that the study of the Woodland Drive property and creation of a development plan will likely take 18 to 24 months.